Annabelle's Highland Adventure

"Attend a traditional dance event and discover the meaning of the dance, music, or narrative being told by the dance."           At the beginning of the semester, I had the opportunity to attend a ceilidh dance on September 8th, at about 8:00pm. What is little known about Scotland is that the people here are always down for a rowdy get-together where they can dance to traditional music. The modernization of the country had left some aspects untouched, such as the ceilidh, which is a dance mainly used for large groups, such as weddings, corporate events, and welcoming in the new freshman at the University.          What piqued my interest in the dance was that my flatmates had seen a flyer advertising the event and had begun to talk about all the ceilidhs that they had gone to when they were younger. They made it seem really fun and a relaxed traditional event to use to submerse myself in the culture. When I got to the dance, I w...

Location: Union Square/Union Street/Port, Aberdeen Date: September 19th, 2018           Chances are that the image of a ruined castle standing stoically out on the edge of a cliff immediately comes to mind when the country of Scotland is mentioned. Although this image is justified through the vast number of ruins scattered throughout the landscape, the image has shaped the cities of Scotland. Contemporary art movements have threatened Modern architecture has provided to be a sore thumb in an otherwise cohesively styled city due to the style of the previously standing structures.           Gothic architecture presents many interesting and desired qualities in buildings compared to contemporary styles. The style utilizes flying buttresses, flourishing spirals, and steep arches integrated in the stonework. What sets the style apart is the use of these factors in the use of curves in A day at Culzean Castle (My photo) structural int...

Location: Union Square, Aberdeen Date: September 12th, 2018         The inevitable questions will hit me when I return to the United States: How was Scotland? What was your most memorable experience? Did you make any friends? How does it compare to home? One question that tends to fall to the background is about being homesick. Being truly "away" from my home for the first time has forced me to understand what it's like to feel the loneliness as well as to figure out how to overcome it in a productive manner.           First, I've had to come to terms with what it is. I've had the feeling since the moment I stepped onto foreign soil. Homesickness is a dark black dog that follows me around on a tight leash. No matter how much I feed it, it always lingers. It follows me when I explore the city but the crowds and laughter of my friends make me blind to it and sometimes I drop the leash. The dog will wander off but never truly leaves as it a...

Location: London Heathrow, London Date: September 5th, 2018           Stepping foot out of London's Heathrow airport is more than just taking a step towards a new adventure; it is my first time stepping outside American soil. While there was no magical pillar to run through like in Harry Potter, I was hit with an equally overwhelming sensation of being out of place. People drove on the left side of the road, there were so many accents and dialects that my head started to spin, and I was acutely aware of how I didn't know what people's words meant. What was a chocolate cake? Was this the same as a brownie?           The first thing that happened after I stepped out of my hotel room was very nearly get run over by a car on the left side of the road. After checking, double checking, and triple checking that the road was clear and I had to look to my right first, then my left, I crossed the street. While this act may seem like quite a tr...

                Sitting on my couch in my comfortable American home with my two dogs lounging on rug at my feet will be exceptionally different than sketching out the rolling countryside and crumbling castles that dot the Scottish landscape. This reality is something that I must come to terms with as I approach the day of my flight to London and then, Aberdeen.                  A large part of the reason for my abroad adventure is to experience a different culture. I believe that my most impactful encounter will be with the many different accents and dialects. While the majority of Scotland speaks English, the number of dialects is vast and extensive. The region of my study speaks Doric, a language noted for the thick tone and dropping of consonants. Coloradans have a similar approach as we often drop the ‘t’ in mountain or soften the vowel ‘a’ to pronounce Colorad...